Flying High
by MissNMikaelson
Summary: Elena always hated flying. She had a terrible tendency to fall asleep and usually wound up leaning on some stranger. Except this time it wasn't a stranger.


**I do not own TVD or TO.**

 **Just a short oneshot for ELEJAH because I love them and felt like writing something different. It's an A/H AU.**

* * *

She had always hated flying. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was always running late.

It certainly didn't help that her plane had a last second gate change. She'd had to sprint across the airport to catch her flight, and it was a big airport. She was certain she must smell.

She was exhausted to start with. She had gone from one meeting to another before attending her book signing and heading to the airport for her flight to New York.

By the time she collapsed into her seat it was all she could do to buckle her seatbelt before her eyes drifted shut.

* * *

He double checked his ticket when he saw the elderly gentleman in what he was certain was his seat.

"Do you require assistance, sir?" A slim flight attendant came up the aisle.

"I was just double checking… Mark," he glanced at the man's nametag. "Perhaps there was a mistake with my ticket."

Mark took the ticket from him and read the seat details.

"This is right, sir," he nodded. "Because of the last minute change in the gates many passengers came in late, so this gentleman," Mark nodded to the elderly man, "missed the assisted boarding call. We were just waiting for the aisles to clear."

He turned his gaze to the old man. For the first time he caught sight of the cane leaning against the wall of the plane. He took note of the slight tremor in the man's arms.

"Don't bother," he shook his head. "Which seat is his?"

"32B," Mark frowned.

"That's this side?" He pointed down the aisle they were standing in. He smiled when Mark nodded and slid around him.

He made his way through the first class cabin and down the narrow row between the seats. He walked past a few sick people who sneezed into their elbows and several small children before he reached the thirty second aisle.

He lifted his carryon into the overhead bin and slotted it beside the purple case. He took a moment to remove his tie and place it in his briefcase before taking a seat. He turned with the intention of nodding politely to his neighbor only to have his eyes widen when he took in the profile of the sleeping woman.

Her long lashes brushed across the olive skin of her high cheek bones. Her eyes moved slowly behind the lids when she shifted in her seat.

He probably should have said something. It would have been the gentlemanly thing to do, but he was more amused than anything when she moved in her sleep and her head landed on his shoulder.

He should have said something, but the light weight of her body blocked the cool air and she happened to smell much better than the rest of the air in the cabin. He couldn't quite identify the each scent but apples and cinnamon were definitely in her shampoo.

* * *

She rolled her neck slowly and nuzzled into the warm chest under her cheek.

Her eyes popped open as mortification set into her limbs and made her face flush scarlet.

"I am so sorry," she lifted her hand to her mouth to ensure she hadn't been drooling on the soft suit jacket. She stared straight ahead when the man chuckled and tried not to look at him.

"That's quite alright," he smiled, "you smelled nice and I was rather cold anyway."

Her breath caught in her throat when she thought she recognized his slightly accented voice. It had been a few years since she'd heard it so she wasn't a hundred percent sure until he made his next nonchalant remark.

"You still use the same shampoo."

Her head snapped around so fast he worried she would give herself whiplash.

"Elijah," she brought her hand up to rub the back of her neck.

"Elena," he smiled brightly. "If I had known giving up my seat would lead me to you I would have done it years ago."

"What?" She blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes. "Wait a minute… you never fly coach. What are you doing back here?"

"There was an older gentleman who could barely walk on his own," Elijah tapped the armrest. "I gave up my seat and took his."

"You should have woken me up," Elena shook her head.

"Why would I have done that?" He smirked. "I happen to enjoy it when a beautiful woman is sleeping on my shoulder."

"You're going home for Christmas then?" Elena blushed but otherwise ignored his comment.

"Moving back actually," he crossed his arms over his stomach.

"I wonder why Rebekah didn't mention that," she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Could be because she doesn't know," Elijah chuckled. "I thought I'd surprise everyone."

"So they don't know you're going home at all?" Elena's eyebrows lifted.

Elijah had gone abroad to teach history at Oxford several years before. The last time Elena had seen him had actually been at his sister's New Year's-slash-going-away-party. They'd had a rather heated discussion over the true motivations of Genghis Khan before a moment of pure electricity before midnight where she had been sure he was going to kiss her, but he hadn't.

"They have no idea," Elijah smirked. "I was offered a contract at NYU to start in the spring term."

"Congratulations," she smiled.

"Thank you," he returned her grin. "I understand congratulations are in order for you as well. I heard from Rebekah that you were getting married."

"Wow," Elena shook her head and laughed, "you're out of the loop. He proposed I said yes and called it off a week later."

"Oh," his eyes flashed when he leaned closer to her. He hadn't been able to see her hands under the loose sleeves of her sweater. He couldn't describe the happiness in his chest when her sleeves were pushed up to reveal her bare fingers. "Was there trouble in paradise? I never did meet the guy; all I know is that he was Stefan's older brother."

"Ah yes," Elena scoffed, "the trouble…"

"Want to talk about what happened?" He passed her a bottle of water. "I snagged that for you when the attendant went by with the drinks cart."

Elena smiled gratefully and took a long drink from the water.

"The problem was," she ventured after a moment of silence, "that he didn't want me."

"I should think if that were the case he wouldn't have proposed," Elijah frowned.

"I would have thought so, too," she shook her head, "but when you call out another woman's name in… well…"

"He didn't?" Elijah straightened.

"He did," she laughed. "The last thing I wanted to hear at that moment was his ex-girlfriend's name. It didn't help that the ex was my sister."

"You were dating your sister's ex?"

"She was over him," Elena assured him, "they had broken up six years before, and she assured me it was okay before I started dating him. I just didn't know he was still hung up on her."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she waved her hand dismissively, "we did break up over a year ago. I am over it."

"Dating anyone now?"

"No," she shook her head, "I had a few dates a while back but nothing really took."

"Shame," he smiled, "maybe now that you're going back home."

"How do you know I'm going back to stay?" Elena smirked.

"Aren't you?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Not to Mystic Falls," she mirrored his expression. "I've got an apartment lined up in Greenwich Village."

"That's not far from Chelsea," his eyes flickered over her smiling face.

"No it's not," she chewed on her lip and smirked when his eyes dropped to her lips.

Elena unfastened her seatbelt and stood up slowly.

"Where are you going?" He caught her wrist when she stepped over his legs into the aisle.

"Obviously not far," she grinned. A familiar electric jolt raced up her arm under his touch.

"Last time I let you out of my sights you disappeared," he squeezed her hand.

"If I recall correctly," Elena bent over and braced her free hand on the back of his seat, "you're the one who disappeared. You jetted off to London never to be heard from again."

"I assumed you wouldn't want to hear from me," he met her laughing eyes, "what with the new job, the novel and the new boyfriend; I figured you were busy."

"Well," she smirked, "you know what they say when you assume things."

"I won't make that mistake again," he swore. "Would I be correct in assuming your number hasn't changed?"

"There you go assuming things again," Elena teased. Her fingers trailed over his wrist when she gently pulled her hand free.

"Terribly sorry," he smiled, "it's a bad habit."

"You should work on that," she straightened up slowly. "I'm pretty sure you always had the means to track me down though."

Her eyes sparkled as she made her way towards the back of the plane. Her arm may or may not have brushed his sleeve when she moved by and tiptoed around the sleeping passengers.

She was mildly surprised when she examined her reflection in the bathroom mirror a few minutes later and found she didn't look too bad for three hours of sleep on the red eye.

Her brows shot up when she unlocked the door and found Elijah on the other side. She tilted her head inquisitively when he walked her backwards and pressed her to the wall in the narrow room.

"What are you doing?" She murmured quietly.

"Was that not code for follow me?" His cool breath fanned across her chin. He settled his hands on her waist. "The way you were swinging your hips was."

"Were you watching me walk away?" Her hands came up and settled on his chest.

"Yes," he moved a fraction of an inch closer so his mouth was a hairsbreadth from hers. "Although," he breathed, "I'd much rather watch you walk towards me."

"Play your cards right and it might just happen," her hands slid up to his neck.

Elijah rubbed circles over her sweater with his thumbs. "You know," his nose brushed hers, "there is something I've wanted to do for years, but the timing never seemed right."

"Oh?" Her tongue darted out to whet her lips.

Her breath caught in her throat when he brushed his lips over hers. It was a soft kiss that made her forget how to breathe for a moment. It was not the kind of kiss she would have imagined receiving in an airplane bathroom.

She sighed when he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue and opened her mouth to him. It was gentle sweeps of tongues and barely there nibbles of bottom lips that stoked a flame in her abdomen.

When they finally broke apart Elena kept her eyes closed and exhaled slowly.

"You could have done that years ago," she peeked up at him through her lashes, "you've had many opportunities."

"It didn't seem right," Elijah laid his forehead on her brow. "I didn't want to start something with you I couldn't finish. I think it would have been very selfish of me to kiss you before I left the country."

"And it's not now?" Elena toyed with the hair on the back of his neck.

"Oh no," he smirked, "it's definitely selfish. I just wanted to kiss you at least once."

"I do hope you're planning on a repeat performance," Elena met his darkened eyes. "It's not like we're an eight hour plane ride away from each other anymore."

"That's true," his smirk turned to a genuine grin.

Elena tried not to laugh at the boyish glee in his eyes.

"Is there anything else you've been wanting to do for years?" Elena knew her eyes were reflecting the light in his.

"There are many," his hands slid around her back and pulled her impossibly close. "It seems I'm working out of order, though."

"How so?" Elena inclined her head to give him better access when he started kissing her throat.

"Well," he nipped at her ear, "first I wanted to take you to dinner," he trailed his lips over her jaw, "then I wanted to kiss you goodnight," he pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"Is that all?" Elena slid her hand down his chest and around his back. He had left his jacket back on the seat.

"Not in the slightest," his quiet voice turned to a low groan when she ran her lips along his jaw and sucked a particularly sensitive spot below his ear.

"Tell me," she nipped his earlobe, "was torrid airplane encounter on the list?"

"No," he spun her around and lifted her so she was perched on the small counter, "I hadn't actually considered that a possibility."

The space was cramped so he had to stand between her legs. Elena was perfectly fine with that fact though; it meant she got to wrap her thighs around his waist and feel him when he was nestled against her.

"How about now?" She smirked against his throat and popped a few buttons on his shirt.

"It's definitely up there," he caught her chin and paused before he could kiss her. "I just want to know one thing first."

"What would that be?" She drew her swollen lip between her teeth and tried to move forward to kiss him. She pouted when he backed away. "Elijah!"

"Relax, darling," his lips lifted in a smile, "I just wanted to know if you'll join me for dinner this weekend?"

"I've got plans with Jeremy Saturday, but any other time is fine," Elena rolled her eyes before grasping the back of his neck and crashing her lips to his.

"Friday?" He mumbled against her mouth.

"It's a date," she smiled. "Now will you stop talking and kiss me?"

"As you wish, Elena," he closed the barely there distance. Heat curled down his spine when her hand splayed over his frantically pounding heart.


End file.
